BBO InterCity League
Spring edition 2010
Mark Roderick is a Camrose player and Captain of the team Wales United, from Cardiff. They’ll play the Intercity League semifinal against Konavle (Croatia).
Let me introduce you to Wales United and the systems we play. It is a little complicated because we try to always play with 2 regular partnerships as this I feel is vital. So what we have now is 3 groups within our squad and each group is familliar with each others style and methods.
Group 1
Peter Goodman – Welsh international.
Mark Roderick – Welsh international.
Kath Nelson – Highly respected English ladies player and a very experienced online player which I feel is an under estimated advantage.
Peter and I play a strong NT (15-17), 5 card suits (including Diamonds) and 2/1. The only time we open 1D with only 4 is if we are specifically 4441. We only play weak 2’s in the majors as we play the famous (in Wales anyway) Goodman 2D which shows a weak pre-empt in Clubs. This allows us to open 3C with both minors.
When Peter and I partner Kath we play a strong NT, 5 card majors and 2/1 again with 3 weak 2’s. In my opinion Peter and Kath have been our most consistant pair.
Group 2
Mike Tedd – Welsh International
John Salisbury – Welsh international
Mark Roderick – Welsh international
Mike and John play a tried and tested Multi system. Rather unusual these days in international bridge(especially online) they play a weak NT (12-14) throughout and 4 card majors. Unfortunately Wednesday is a bad night at the moment so I have not been able to play them as much as I’d obviously like to. I therefore learnt their system and methods and partnered Mike 2 or 3 teams this season.
Group 3
Paul Denning – Welsh international
Pat Shields – Welsh international
Dan Macintosh – English Junior international
Paul and Pat play a strong club system and have put an awful lot of time and effort into it and it shows. Again due to family commitments Paul is unable to play as much as I’d like to play him, which is why we are lucky to have Dan to call on. Both Pat and Paul have a very polished 2/1 system with which they play with Dan. Over recent matches Pat & Dan and Peter & Kath have played very well especially in the quarters.
One more person who deserves a mention is Adrian Thomas another Welsh international. He has played 2 matches for us this season (winning both) playing once with Peter Goodman his current Welsh international partner and once with Paul Denning his last Welsh international partner.
Mark Roderick